There are occasions in life, such as anniversaries, weddings, retirements, promotions, graduations, award presentations, confirmations, birthdays, holidays, funerals, illness, hospitalizations and the like where it would be desirable to provide the person or persons involved in the occasion (referred to here as the “recipient”) with a special communication or recording or a group of special communications or recordings from family members, friends, coworkers, colleagues and the like, that is in the form of a keepsake type of playback device or another type of playback device where the communications or recordings could be played at the recipient's convenience and could be played as many times as desired, and could be played even after current recording standards and operating systems change.
There are many existing methods of communicating with such recipients, including (1) providing written messages, letters, notes, greeting cards, photographs, gifts, mementos and the like, all of which may not convey as much as a spoken message; (2) face-to-face oral presentations, which require a physical presence and are typically not repeatable or preserved in recorded form; (3) telephone or videophone type communications, which have the same drawbacks as face-to-face presentations, and have other drawbacks such as timing considerations including being made at a time that may be intrusive or inconvenient for the recipient, and requiring special equipment in the case of videophones; (4) audio, video or audio-visual presentations recorded by a tape recorder, movie camera, video camera or other conventional recording device, which may require considerable time, effort and skill to prepare and assemble, especially when geographically dispersed family members are involved, and would also require special equipment to present, including an appropriate playback device that may not be readily available.
All of the above methods are commonly used, and each have their advantages and disadvantages. However, they are particularly unsuitable when it is desired to create and present a special communication or recorded message or a group of special communications or recorded messages to a recipient where it is desired to present the communications or messages in a form that stores the communications or messages on a suitable recording medium that is incorporated in a keepsake type of playback device or other types of playback devices that allow for playback of the communications at the recipient's convenience and as many times as desired, and would allow for playback even after current recording standards and operating systems change. This is especially true when those persons who participate in making the communications or recordings are geographically dispersed, or are otherwise unable to get together in one location to prepare a face-to-face presentation or a recorded audio or video presentation.
For example, if a family member or friend is hospitalized as a patient for treatment of a serious condition, and other family members or friends are dispersed geographically in various locations around the country, it may be difficult for some or all family members or friends to visit the patient or discern when it is an appropriate time to telephone or otherwise contact the patient to offer encouragement and support. These difficulties may result in a lack of effective communication by the family members or friends with the patient. It may also be difficult and time-consuming for a single person or a group of persons to prepare a collected group of recorded communications or messages for the patient. In such a situation, it may be desirable to assemble a group of encouraging and supportive communications or messages from various family members and/or friends in a form that could be delivered or given to the patient so that the patient could listen to or view the communications or recordings at a convenient time rather than be subjected to intrusive telephone calls, visits at inconvenient times, and other less effective efforts to communicate wishes of encouragement and support.
Other situations where it may be difficult and time-consuming to assemble a recorded presentation of encouraging, congratulatory or other supportive communications or messages by conventional means include any of the occasions mentioned above or other special occasions. The drawbacks with conventional means of preparing such communications are compounded where the participants that desire to participate in the presentation are geographically dispersed, or are otherwise unable to get together in one location to prepare a conventionally recorded presentation or participate in a live presentation, for example, because of difficult relationships between family members. Even if all or some of the participants can attend the special occasion, it still may be desired to prepare a special presentation recorded in a keepsake type of playback device or in other types of playback devices both as described below, so that the recipients can cherish the memory of the special occasion, even after current recording standards and operating systems change.